U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,354, U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,998, U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,676 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,386,932 B1 disclose various and different water sport devices for supporting a seated human rider while the rider and the device are towed behind a powered water craft. The devices include an elongated board to which a rigidly mounted seat and foot holders are secured. An elongate strut or arm projects downwardly from the board and wings are secured to the arm generally parallel to the board. The positioning of the seat and the wings provide essentially no lift when the board is horizontal. The positioning of the rigidly mounted seat and the wings at the rear of the board, the use of a single vertical strut, the size of the wings and the positioning of the foot holders in front of the seat provides a water sports device which is relatively easy to ride, while at the same time being highly maneuverable and capable of high jumps.
These towable personal hydrofoils can be somewhat difficult to learn to ride. Hydrofoil riders often having difficulty bringing the hydrofoil up to the surface of the water from a starting, submerged position when first learning to ride.
The disclosures of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,100,54, 5,249,998, 6,179,676 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,386,932 B1 are expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Briefly, the present invention comprises a water sports device for supporting a seated human rider while the rider and the device are towed behind a powered water craft, the device including an elongated board having a front end and a back end to which is secured a seat for supporting the buttocks of the rider in a position spaced from and roughly centered above the back one-third of the board, a binding for securing the feet of the rider over the top of the board secured to the board, an elongated hydrofoil extends downward from the board and a planing blade secured to the hydrofoil spaced from the board, so as to be generally parallel to the board so that the planing blade provides essentially no lift when the board is horizontal;
the improvement wherein the binding is adjustably secured to said board whereby rider can adjust the binding to accommodate his/her leg length and increase the amount to control the rider has when mounted on the ski.
Prior personal hydrofoils have only been equipped with stationary bindings which are permanently attached to the elongated board at a single, predetermined position. These fixed location bindings do not allow different size riders to adjust the binding forward or aft to fit their height requirements. According to this invention, the binding is adjusted by moving it forward to accommodate a tall person or aft to accommodate a shorter person. This makes an enormous difference in the amount of control a rider has when trying to steer or maneuver the sit down hydrofoil.
Specifically, the rider while seated can exert maximum steering action on the elongated board while the feet are held in bindings and the upper leg and lower leg are approximately at a right angle to each other, that is, there is approximately a 90xc2x0 angle at the knee. For a short-legged rider, this means that the binding for securing the feet should be closer to the seat than is the case for a long-legged rider. This invention provides for this adjustability so that good control of steering can be done by simply moving the bent legs to the right or left while the feet are immobilized.
The adjustable binding assembly of this invention comprises:
a. a rigid plate having a hole pattern that matches the receiving threaded inserts inlayed in the elongated board.
b. affixed to the plate is a footpad and a multiple layer binding assembly of a toe rubber, heel strap and foot overlay as shown in the drawings.
c. the multiple layer of binding material mounts by hardware comprising of fasteners and binding rails which sandwich the binding material between the rail and plate.
The adjustable plate bindings mount toward the front of the elongated board using wing bolts, machine screws or other types of fasteners made of but not limited to, metal or a petroleum based composite material such as plastic. The receiving threaded inserts mount permanently within the board and are also made of a like metal or a petroleum based material such as plastic. The binding layers consist of, but are not limited to an e.v.a. type rubber. Engineering plastic suitable for the foregoing described purpose will be known to those skilled in the art.